I?ve decided to take a candid approach to this post, so be forewarned. It is not my intention to offend REALTORS; it is my intention to report in from the trenches of home staging with a real life tale.
I had a ?classic? home staging situation take place a couple of weeks ago. It went like this?
I received an email from a lady we?ll call Tina who had been referred to me by one of her coworkers at The Vancouver Sun. She sent me a lovely email, telling me that her colleague had raved about me and that she should definitely get in touch with me before she listed her condo. She told me a bit about her property and asked me to get in touch to talk.
I called Tina that afternoon and we had a great chat ? one of those chats that seem to go by in the blink of an eye but was in fact nearly thirty minutes long. Tina was in marketing and really ?got? what staging was and why it was necessary. We shared a few laughs and agreed to touch base by the end of the week once she confirmed her REALTOR.
The following week, I received an email from Tina who said she had met with her REALTOR, told him about me and he had responded with, ?You don?t need to stage, your condo already shows well.? Tina insisted that she wanted to get as much money as she could for her property AND prevent having it sit on the market for months on end. She sent him the overview of my Ultimate Home Preparation Package and his interest was piqued. He agreed to go ahead with the meeting, as long as he could be present.
I arrived for the consultation and got to meet Tina in person; it?s always great to put a face to a voice on the other end of the phone. The REALTOR was right, her place DID show well but there?s always room for improvement. I gave them both an overview of what we?d cover during the meeting and tour and got started.
About halfway through the consultation, as I was showing them an example of ?hands on? staging, Tina looked at the REALTOR incredulously and said, ?Isn?t this amazing? I didn?t even think about half of the things we?ve talked about so far. And look at this place! It already looks amazing! What do you do with your listings that REALLY don?t show well??
The REALTOR paused and then admitted, ?To be honest, I just price them lower to make sure they sell. Well, let me rephrase that. I used to price them lower to make sure they sell. Heather, you and I need to talk. I?ve learned so much tonight and am so impressed.?
I?m not trying to blow my own horn here?at all. This is simply a perfect example of how successful, established, respected REALTORS often misunderstand staging.
This happens so often, in fact, that I?ve actually decided to stop marketing and promoting myself to REALTORS. Yes, it?s true and I said it. I have a wonderful group of REALTORS that I work with on a regular basis who bring me into each and every one of their new listings and I adore all of them. On the flip side of that, how many possible ways can we, as home stagers, communicate our value to REALTORS? I get that ?rejection? is part of the game but really, it?s the equivalent of a car dealership thinking that hiring a car detailer is a waste of money that doesn?t add value to their product.
Over the past 5 months, 85% of my new clients have been home owners who have contacted me directly and then had to convince their REALTOR that it was a good idea.
So, home owners, we home stagers are on your side. We believe that savvy REALTORS will offer you home staging services as part of their listing package so ensure you maximize the equity of your most important asset. What is a few hundred dollars out of their pocket at the end of the day?
End small rant.
Would you like a happy ending? Well, Tina staged her condo based on my step-by-step e-report and the REALTOR was thrilled. So much so that he hired a video company to a very cool video tour of the property; something he?s been wanting to do for months but has never had a property that has shown well enough to have it filmed. The first open house is this weekend and I can?t WAIT for the feedback.
Another convert? You betcha. So much so that he?s invited me to present at his next sales meeting to meet his team and educate them about what home staging REALLY is. Mission complete.
What do you think? What is your theory on REALTORS? resistance towards home staging? Lack of understanding? Ego? Let?s hear your take on this. Please!
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